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the max

NHL Off-Season Thread...

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Bolster? BOLSTER?

 

 

Weekes is unpredictable. I mean Dunham, McLennan, and Blackburn? Who do they think they are? St. Louis of 2001?

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Guest Kageho

One of the three you've previously mentioned is most likely getting transfered to a new home. That's the only reason I see them hiring Weekes. And I'm most likely guessing that it'll be Dunham or McLennan. Or perhaps even both.

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Probably Dunham since he's going to make an insane amount of money for a guy that has never put it all together in the NHL.

 

I can't even think of a team that really NEEDS a goaltender...maybe Carolina or Atlanta, if they have the scratch.

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Guest Kageho

Dunham might end up in Atlanta if it came down to Carolina or Atlanta.

 

It's amazing that almost every team in the NHL can say they've got good enough goaltenders that they almost have to split the decisions between two of them now.

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http://tsn.ca/news_story.asp?ID=96395&hubName=main

 

Phoenix is gradually becoming a dark horse team in the West.

 

They signed Petr Nedved and traded Daymond Langkow to the Flames for Denis Gauthier and Oleg Saprykin. Gauthier solidifies their defense physically. Saprykin gives them a rugged, talented second or third winger. The Nedved signing gives them a very good center/wing that ultimately replaces Langkow and made him expendible.

 

If Phoenix can get their goaltending situation under control, they could emerge as a very dangerous, very talented team. Unfortunately, Boucher is maddeningly inconsistant, and Brent Johnson can't carry the #1 job. Maybe they could get involved in the Mike Dunham situation with the Rangers. Steve Shields is still available for signing too. Other than that, they have Zac Bierk in the system, but he's a back-up goalie at best. David Leneveu is decent goaltender, but he's still 21 and needs work in the minors. Jean-Marc Pelletier is 26 and entering his prime, but only has experience in the minors and is unlikely to amount to much in the NHL. Their only other option in their system is Jeff Pietrasiak, but he's still at the UNH and needs to get experience with NHL.

 

As for trades, they could offer up Matthew Spiller and maybe a pick for Dunham. To make all of the moves that they've made in the off-season only to have shortcomings in net would truly be a shame.

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Um... Noodles signed with Florida. He isn't with NYR anymore.

 

And I love this trade from the Flames' perspective. It gives us room for Phaneuf to move into the lineup, and gets us a reliable centre to play on our 2nd line, maybe 1st if Rhino's still out. Losing Sappy hurts, but he had 6 years to develop into a scorer, and I guess we just ran out of patience.

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http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen...da-ac11dfe49c67

 

The owners are thinking of starting a new league, perhaps as early as January. This lockout could actually be a good thing, if it means that a few smaller leagues start (WHA, an owners-started league, a players-started league) and then ultimately merge. Yes, it'd mean the end of the NHL but it could be a good rebirth for the sport.

 

Nah, it'd just be bad news.

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Guest Kageho

I think this has gone on long enough. Just get both sides to shut up and get back into action on getting a new CBA done. enough of the holding out, just get it done. I want my hockey dammit.

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Phoenix adds MORE to their lineup.

 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=96913

 

Jason Chimera and Michael Rupp resign. Chimera is an excellent PK and a very good player to have on the fourth line to play either wing or center. Rupp is a young power forward in the making and has already been deep in the playoffs at only 24.

 

Once again, two good signings by the Dogs. They have completely retooled their team, and have now shown their fanbase that they are willing to do what it takes to be competitive. Now, all the Dogs need:

 

1) Goaltending. Again, they could probably offer up Matt Spiller and a pick to the Rangers for Mike Dunham. Spiller is something that the Rangers need, a defenseman with excellent size to grow into their blueline. Dunham is something that the Dogs need, a solid #1 goaltender.

2) An NHL season.

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Francis turns down front office job

 

Francis says no to front office job

 

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Ron Francis turned down a front-office job with the Carolina Hurricanes and is still deciding whether he wants to continue his playing career.

 

The Hurricanes told the 41-year-old centre and former team captain that they didn't want him back as a player, but they offered him a position working with young players in their system.

 

Carolina traded Francis to Toronto in March after he spent six seasons with the Hurricanes. He became a free agent in July, and his family remains in Raleigh.

 

"I haven't made any decisions about what I want to do, but if I decide to play, then obviously I can't take the job," said Francis, who helped Carolina reach the 2002 Stanley Cup final. "If I don't play, I don't think the timing is right to step in there."

 

Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said the team wouldn't hire someone else to fill the position offered to Francis, but the team might add another pro scout instead.

 

Only two NHL players have played in more games than Francis, who with 1,731 is 37 behind Gordie Howe and 25 behind Mark Messier. He is second in assists with 1,249, behind only Wayne Gretzky, and fourth in goals with 549 and points with 1,798.

If the lockout gets resolved soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see that job offered to Francis again. Francis is still a player, so I think he doesn't want to go over to the "dark side" yet...

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Bumped from the grave...

 

TORONTO (CP) - Any sliver of hope of avoiding an NHL lockout seemingly went out the window Thursday.

 

The NHL Players' Association delivered its first proposal since last October to the NHL on Thursday and the league was not impressed.

 

According to sources familiar with the NHLPA's latest offer, the proposal calls for a luxury tax to begin at $50 million US. The players' offer 15 months ago reportedly proposed a payroll tax of $40 million US.

 

"I don't believe that the proposal today was anything but window dressing, if that," Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president, said in a conference call Thursday evening.

 

"It is clear the owners remain stuck at trying to get a salary cap," countered Vancouver Canucks centre Trevor Linden, the president of the players' executive committee. "At some point the owners need to understand the players will never accept a salary cap or any system arbitrarily linking payroll to league revenues.

 

"Our proposal today was the best chance we saw to save the hockey season."

 

With no talks planned before Wednesday's expiry of the collective bargaining agreement, a lockout is expected to be triggered after the NHL's board of governors meet the same day in New York.

 

That would mean no NHL hockey for the foreseeable future.

 

"It certainly looks that way," said NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin. "They've been planning for this since 1998 when they put together their $300-million lockout fund.

 

"I think they fully intend to commence the lockout on Sept. 15."

 

Said Daly: "We need to find a solution to our problems and right now the union is not willing to talk to us about that."

 

The NHLPA, as expected, had a completely different view of things. It believed its offer, an updated version of their October 2003 proposal, was a meaningful package that would save the NHL at least $150 million US next season alone.

 

"It's frustrating, the players are sitting here offering millions of dollars," said Linden. "We are making a serious, concerted effort to bridge the gap. But they have a one-track mind: a cap. We're trying to find the middle ground. We understand there are issues out there and we're trying to address them.

 

"Their inability to look at the middle ground is frustrating."

 

The union's offer once again had four main components:

 

- A five per cent rollback on all existing player contracts, "calculated to generate over $100 million in savings over the next few years," the union said;

 

- Changes to entry-level contracts, "which would generate an additional $60 million in estimated savings.";

 

- A luxury tax;

 

- Revenue sharing, "the most significant change since Oct. 1."

 

The league was not interested.

 

"I would tell you that under the union's proposal, even with all their assumed givebacks - which we don't necessarily agree with their projections - but even assuming everything they say is true, their proposal would still have more than half our clubs losing money," Daly said.

 

The league says it lost $273 million in 2002-03 and $224 million last season, and needs a salary cap system or any system which guarantees player costs won't eat up more than 50 per cent of league revenues. The league says player costs ate up 75 per cent of league revenues last season.

 

And that's why a luxury tax doesn't interest them.

 

"Our problem with the luxury tax, quite frankly, is that by definition, no one will ever know with any degree of certainty what impact a luxury tax will have on the behaviour of the clubs," Daly said. "So it's a best guess.

 

"And we're beyond a point where that type of system would work for this league."

 

The NHLPA's executive committee joined executive director Bob Goodenow, associate counsel Ian Pulver, outside counsel John McCambridge and Saskin for Thursday's meeting, which began at 1 p.m. EDT and ended at 5:10 p.m. in downtown Toronto.

 

The committee, made up of active NHL players, consists of Linden as president, and vice-presidents Bob Boughner, Vincent Damphousse, Daniel Alfredsson, Bill Guerin, Trent Klatt and Arturs Irbe.

 

Alfredsson and Guerin were not there because of the World Cup.

 

Commissioner Gary Bettman and Daly were joined on the league side by owners from their executive committee, including Calgary Flames part-owner Harley Hotchkiss (chairman of the board), Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs (chairman of the finance committee), as well as Nashville Predators owner Craig Leopold, Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, Minnesota Wild chairman Bob Naegele and New Jersey Devils CEO and GM Lou Lamoriello.

 

It was the first time players and owners were at a negotiating session since Oct. 1, when the NHLPA made its last proposal (although the league claims it was June 2003).

 

"We don't feel today it was anything other than a pre-orchestrated move to not make a meaningful proposal," said Daly. "And it's something, unfortunately, we saw coming a couple of weeks ago. They're not prepared to negotiate before a work stoppage. They believe their best deal will be negotiated in a work stoppage situation and that's unfortunate for our sport."

 

Said Saskin: "No, that's in no way accurate. Look, we weren't coming to propose a salary cap. The framework was comparable (to Oct. 1) with exception that there was a significant move in their direction in the area of revenue sharing.

 

"We don't see this as a step backwards."

 

The league offered six new "concepts" July 25 but they were rejected by the union Aug. 17.

 

The current collective agreement, twice renewed over 10 years, has seen salaries grow from an average of $733,000 in 1994-95 to $1.83 million in 2003-04. League-wide revenues have also risen during that span, but the NHL says not at the same pace.

 

So much for the NHL this season. I wonder if TSN will broadcast any of the European leagues' games.

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I can't figure out if I'm more angry or sad about all of this.

 

One sentence from that article just keeps running through my mind like a bad dream:

That would mean no NHL hockey for the foreseeable future.

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I can't decide that either.

 

I'm angry because I know that this effectively ends any kind of season before it begins.

 

I'm sad because I know that the only hockey that I'll be getting this winter will be on ESPN Classic. *sigh* No sports for me this winter.

 

I'm angry because this is preventable. Lock the dumbfucks in a room with nothing but hot dogs and water and tell them that they aren't coming out until the matter is resolved.

 

I'm sad because I'll miss the growth of key players in the NHL (Nash, Bergeron)

 

 

This day sucks already.

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http://www.thn.com/en/survey/survey2004.asp

 

Have any of you guys done this survey? It's too long to C&P the questions here, but it was actually a pretty fun survey to go through. Some of the questions were to restrictive - as in the list of choices was missing an obvious choice - but for the most part it was on-point. My biggest beef was it was too current ... for example, having Commodore as a choice in the 'hair' category when there were tons of players in the 70s that had cooler dos than MC).

 

On a similar note, I've given it some thought and I think it's too soon for either anger OR sadness. I'm still in the first stage of grieving (shock & denial) so anger is next, I'll probably skip bargaining and go straight to depression. I'm pretty sure I'll never reach the last stage of it all: acceptance.

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You should take my sig, nl5.

 

We should try to make a DVD with the best NHL games in history.

 

That survey was excellent, although missing a few, like you said.

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http://tsn.ca/news_story.asp?ID=98208

 

Well, even with the death of the NHL coming, Vancouver still signed the Sedins and Alex Auld. I've let it be known already that I think Auld is a better option than they have right now with Cloutier, as at least Auld doesn't have a problem with big game situations.

 

1057781251CloutierPuck.jpg

 

The Sedins were reupped to one-year contracts, and Auld to a two year deal. If there was going to be an NHL season, Cloutier would have started for them, but since Auld has a two-year deal, I would have expected him to be the starter after this season.

 

 

 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=98204

 

And #4 Bobby Orr has come out with some remarks about the situation that the NHL is in right now. I love Bobby Orr.

 

 

 

 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=98236

 

The Panthers resigned Juraj Kolnik, one of their premier offensive threats.

 

 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=98207

 

The Blues signed Christian Backman and four minor leaguers

 

 

 

 

 

So, looks like we're on a LONG off-season now. What will become of this thread?

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I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is of the impending lockout.

 

Will you watch NHL hockey after the lockout is over?

Will you support an NHL the same way after the lockout is over?

 

 

 

Those are the two questions that have been eating at me for the last few days. Will I watch the NHL after the lockout? Probably. Will I support the NHL in the same way? Definitely not. I won't be buying any jerseys, hats, or any other merchandise for quite a long time, I won't be getting tickets to Lightning and Panthers games when the Bruins are in town. I'll watch on TV, which is more than enough.

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Max, I don't think I can take your sig ... my only PC access is at work, and they get all sketched out when we d/l stuff onto our work PCs.

 

Will you watch NHL hockey after the lockout is over? Yes, I'll most likely still watch as much NHL hockey as I did before the lockout. I've been too big of a fan for too long to just shut it out altogether. Having said all that, though, if they really do miss this entire year, as a lot of experts are predicting, it'll be really easy for me to have the void filled by other levels of hockey (NCAA, AHL, etc) and thus I might end up watching less NHL than I do now.

 

Will you support an NHL the same way after the lockout is over? Yes & No. The 'yes' is because I've supported the NHL less-and-less these last few seasons anyways, but it was more a small protest against Jacobs & his fiscal demands than against the league as a whole. Now it'll just expand to not traveling to as many away games (e.g. MTL, TOR, NJ). The 'no' is because I'll probably still end up buying the hockey package on cable when there finally is a season. I like watching hockey too much to limit myself to just the Bruins games and the minimal ESPN coverage.

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I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is of the impending lockout.

 

Will you watch NHL hockey after the lockout is over?

Will you support an NHL the same way after the lockout is over?

The answer for me is yes and yes.

 

Hockey on Saturdays, like football on Sundays, becomes something you simply watch that day. I still have a hard time adjusting to not watching HNiC down here in Houston actually.

 

And I will still support the NHL, because I think that the game still deserves the support of the fans. Those that are left, anyways.

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Guest Olympic Slam
I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is of the impending lockout.

 

Will you watch NHL hockey after the lockout is over?

Will you support an NHL the same way after the lockout is over?

Will you watch NHL hockey after the lockout is over? Yes

 

Will you support an NHL the same way after the lockout is over? Yes

 

 

A strike won't be all that bad. You see this is different than in 94'-95' when the NHL was was the only major sport going and was hot off a NY Ranger Cup win and a mini-boom in the U.S . Unlike MLB in 94', the NHL is in REAL trouble. The players are getting paid way more than the market is dictating. There are too many teams. The quality of play is incredibly poor. The goalies have an almost embarassing advantage. The leauge has done a terrible job of marketing the sport. Canadian teams are still at a disadvantage.

 

These issues have to be addressed in full. I'm hoping that a strike will solve some of these issues. What I really don't want is a HALF ASSED agreement that solves next to nothing and only results in pissing off the fans for canceling games.

 

I can still play hockey with or without the NHL. The NFL and the upcoming MLB playoffs will keep me occupied until the NHL gets their shit together. I suggest you all take the same approach.

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Guest Rrrsh

I hope there is a strike. I hope it goes untill we start losing teams. 6 teams shoudl be dis-baned and 4 teams should be re-located to Canada. That and I want the game fixed too.

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Oly Slam, your argument makes sense, and I agree with a lot of what you said ... until you said to use the NFL & MLB to fill the void. Football works for Sundays, and for most Monday nights, but Tuesday - Saturday will still be empty. I'll watch some college football, but hockey > college football. And MLB? With no level of exaggeration, I'd rather watch ts/tv porn than all 9 innings of a baseball game. (ok, that's a slight exaggeration ... but just a slight one).

 

Rrrsh, there aren't 4 cities in Canada capable of supporting a pro team right now ... even if Winnipeg & Quebec City are given a second chance, what other two cities will get a franchise? (sorry if that sounds like an arrogant American ... if it helps any, I think that there are too many US teams that are located in cities that can't support a pro team, let alone a pro hockey team ... Columbus, I'm looking at you.)

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There aren't really any other places (besides Hamilton, I guess, but the Sabres would have to be bought off). It'd be nice to have a team in the Martimes, I guess, but there isn't one city big enough to support a team.

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